2008 Playoffs

National Hockey League Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell issued an Ã¢â‚¬Å“on the flyÃ¢â‚¬Â interpretation of Rule 75: Unsportsmanlike Conduct:

Ã¢â‚¬Å“An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender’s face for the purpose of interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play.Ã¢â‚¬Â

I suppose the New Jersey Devils organization can enjoy a collective pat on their own backs for gaining some measure of Ã¢â‚¬Å“revengeÃ¢â‚¬Â over the NHLÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s adoption of the so-called Ã¢â‚¬Å“Martin Brodeur RuleÃ¢â‚¬Â that limited a goaltenderÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s ability to play the puck and introduced the trapezoid to rinks across the NHL.

Leave it to everyoneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s favorite lightning rod, Sean Avery, to force the NHL to awaken from the coronation of Sidney Crosby so they could overreact to Lou LamorielloÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s lamentations.

Before everyone starts piling on Avery, I suggest that you review the play in its entirety. Go ahead, I will wait.

Thank you for coming back. If you watched the play closely that Avery NEVER touches Brodeur. However, the Jersey netminder clearly nails Avery in the Ã¢â‚¬Å“junkÃ¢â‚¬Â with his stick and also throw a punch at the uber-pest.

To their credit, the Rangers are staying focused on the task at hand. Steve Zipay of Newsday reported that someone close to the Rangers organization said that Chris Drury was not admonishing Avery; rather he was relaying the refereeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s instruction to lower his stick Ã¢â‚¬â€œ which Avery did.

As expected, Brendan ShanahanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s comments were directed at the leagueÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s reaction as opposed to the play Ã¢â‚¬â€œ something that is expected given ShanahanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s position on the Rules Committee.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Show me the rule book, ” Shanahan stated. “What’s the rule? If they’re going to change a rule in mid-season, they need a 30-0 vote of the Board of Governors.Ã¢â‚¬Â

However, it seems that the Devils will not let the event play itself out without a comment.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Here we are trying to sell the game, and stuff like that is going on, Ã¢â‚¬Â Devils center John Madden told Ira Podell of the AP. Ã¢â‚¬Å“I just find it childish and I don’t agree with any of it.Ã¢â‚¬Â

Madden is probably right about the play being childish; however, notice he mentions nothing about it being illegal. Whining players is childish as well, but it is a part of the game.

I do have one question for Madden. Exactly how were the Devils selling the game all these years they have been boring the NHL to death with the neutral zone trap?

Brian Gionta had an interesting take on LÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Affair Avery in a conversation he had with Dave Caldwell of the NY Times.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“HeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s just doing what he always does, and the best way to deal with that is to ignore him, Ã¢â‚¬Â Gionta offered. Ã¢â‚¬Å“When heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s least effective is when you ignore him.Ã¢â‚¬Â

GiontaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s advice is probably the best any opponent could take when facing Avery. However, ignoring Avery is like that mosquito bite you have. You know you should scratch it, but once you do you feel so much better.

Even Brent Sutter had to wade into the fray. One would think he would stay silent given the fact his tirade at the end of Game 2 should have earned him a penalty given the stick he tossed onto the ice. Funny, I must have missed the NHL missive about the Ã¢â‚¬Å“on the flyÃ¢â‚¬Â interpretation. Anyway, this is what Sutter had to say following Game 3.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“I did have a conversation with the official about it, Ã¢â‚¬Â the Devils coach told Josh Thomson of the Journal News. Ã¢â‚¬Å“He did tell me that the next time it happens, it will be a penalty. I was told after he scored, so I am not very comfortable with it.Ã¢â‚¬Â

The funny thing about this whole episode is the one Devil who was most affected doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t seem to be making a federal case out of it.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“He didn’t do anything illegal, Ã¢â‚¬Â Brodeur told Dan Martin of the NY Post. Ã¢â‚¬Å“I couldn’t see anything, ” Brodeur said. “I’ve got to give him some credit. I don’t know if he did it on his own or was told to do it, but the two or three shots before he scored, I never saw.Ã¢â‚¬Â

While Brodeur took a little harder of a stance while talking to Podell, he admitted that what Avery did was within the rules of the game.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’ve played for 15 years in this league. I’ve been watching games for 33 years. I had never seen that in my life, Ã¢â‚¬Â Brodeur admitted to the AP. Ã¢â‚¬Å“I don’t think that kind of behavior should be done in front of the net, but there is no rule for it.Ã¢â‚¬Â

Perhaps Chris Neil of the Ottawa senators summed up the situation succinctly in just one sentence.

Someone needs to remind me why the season finale between the Rangers and the Devils was so important? So far the road team has won all three games Ã¢â‚¬â€œ which bodes well for the Rangers if form holds true for the entire series.

One thing that has held true for all 11 games the two teams have played this season Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the Devils have not defeated the Rangers in regulation time.

For the first time in 16 games against Henrik Lundqvist, the Devils managed to score more than two goals Ã¢â‚¬â€œ and even that has to be taken with a grain of salt because the Rangers were guilty of two own goals and one of the most bizarre deflection goals you will ever see. Yes, the bounces were going the Devils way and that is what happens when one team elevates their play while the other doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t.

The Blueshirts might be able to take advantage of these bounces if they didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have the bad habit of over-passing. Could Martin Straka please hoot the puck and stop passing up shots on goal.

The Rangers never seemed to be able to capitalize on their home ice advantage. The Devils first goal deflated the Garden and even when the Rangers did fight back to tie the game and go ahead, the Rangers knack for taking bad penalties crept back into the picture Ã¢â‚¬â€œ which coincided with the Devils finding some life in their power play.

Actually, this game had all the earmarks of a disturbing trend that has dogged the Rangers all season long. Far too many times the Rangers were in a position to put a game away and then let their skate off the accelerator. The most glaring example was blowing the five goal lead against the Canadiens in Montreal.

No one really expected to sweep the Devils like they did the Thrashers last year, but it is still a little disconcerting that the Blueshirts did not raise their game.

Another disconcerting thing from last night is the mediaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s overreaction to Sean AveryÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Ã¢â‚¬Å“face guardingÃ¢â‚¬Â of Martin Brodeur during the Rangers two-man advantage. LetÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s face it, if someone other than Avery did it he would be hailed as an innovator Ã¢â‚¬â€œ especially if that player were Sidney Ã¢â‚¬Å“I Can Do No WrongÃ¢â‚¬Â Crosby.

That play is the quintessential Avery being Avery. He straddles the line between pest and detriment on every shift. Did he overdo it a bit? Yes. That is why Chris Drury skated over to him and said something to him prior to Avery lighting the lamp.

The referees assured Brent Sutter that the next time Avery would be whistled for a penalty. Hmm, Avery would get a penalty, but Brodeur gets nothing for the jab with the stick and the punch to the face? Avery gets a penalty for not touching Brodeur, but the Devils donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t get whistled for jabbing at Lundqvist after the play is dead.

As expected, the NHL has already waded into the fray with an overreaction of their own. The following NHL statement was posted on Steve ZipayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Newsday blog.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“National Hockey League Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell issued the following advisory on the interpretation of Rule 75: Unsportsmanlike Conduct:

Ã¢â‚¬ËœAn unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender’s face for the purpose of interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬Â
No, I am not blaming the officials for the Rangers loss. The blame for the loss falls squarely on the Rangers. However, it is interesting to note the discrepancies in the inconsistency among the referees.

It is time for Glen Sather to poke his head of his groundhog hole and rip a page out of Lou Lamoriello’s playbook. If the Devils are going to curry the NHL’s favor in the media, then Sather needs to do the same thing while standing up for his player and his team.

Unlike the Devils who looked outward to blame the officiating for their losses, the Rangers need to look inward. They need to take better care with the puck and not be so cavalier when trying to clear the puck Ã¢â‚¬â€œ like Blair Betts did on the first goal. They need to stop taking foolish penalties Ã¢â‚¬â€œ like Fedor Tyutin did in the second period. They need a better job on face-offs from Chris Drury (29%) and Scott Gomez (41%).

Branch Rickey said it best when he said that Ã¢â‚¬Å“Luck is the residue of designÃ¢â‚¬Â.

“It was a fortuitous bounce, but they did what they needed to do, ” Tom Renney told Larry Brooks of the New York Post. “They lost the faceoff, but then jumped on it.

“You make your breaks. Luck always follows on the heels of effort. We understand that.”

I think RenneyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s quote goes a little deeper than what appears on first read. I think Renney was trying to get a subtle point across to his team in the press and I am sure it is a point that Renney and the coaching staff will pound home prior to Game 4.

The Rangers better mind their manners and be on their best behavior come Game 3 on Sunday night given the ending of Game 2.

The Devils were so livid over calls and non-calls that New Jersey President/GM Lou Lamoriello went toe-to-toe with NHL officials who were in attendance The Prudential Center. Steve Zipay of Newsday wrote that Lamoriello was Ã¢â‚¬Å“Ã¢â‚¬Â¦livid at the officiating in the final minute, engaged in a heated discussion with NHL brass after the game, and arena security initially barred several reporters and one Rangers official from the corridor leading to the press room.Ã¢â‚¬Â

It does not take a rocket scientist to know that Lamoriello was incensed over the Jamie Langenbrunner interference call, the non-call on the Blair Betts hook on Paul Martin and the blown icing call. However, Lamoriello wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t the only one was beside himself.

Brent Sutter went ballistic as he banged a stick on the boards before depositing it on the ice in front of the Devils bench. Zipay also wrote that John Madden yelled at the referees as he followed them off the ice.

In all honesty, the Devils were completely correct about the icing call. The linesmen had a brain cramp and must have been confused because while the Devils were shorthanded, they did have five skaters on the ice after pulling Martin Brodeur. What I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t get was SutterÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s comments following the game.

The Devils coach lamented that the face-off was at center ice – as is clearly stated in the rulebook. I suppose he wanted the face-off in the Rangers end, which makes no sense because had there been no icing call the Rangers had possession and there were no Devils checking Michal Rozsival.

The Bottom line is the official sometimes make glaring mistakes on calls that are
no-brainers – kind of like the Too Many Men on the Ice call they missed in the first period when the Devils had something like half their team on the ice.

Heck, if the referees really wanted to screw over the Devils and really annoy the hell out of them, they would have nailed them with a bench minor for Sutter’s antics or doled out some misconduct penalties at the Devils players who were yelling at them late in the game and after the game.

As for the Langenbrunner call, it is one of those calls that gets made at some times and not made at other times. If you go by the rulebook, it is a penalty. Then again, so were the numerous cross checks the devils dished out in the first period and were not called by the referees.

As for the Betts play on Martin, the referees swallowed their whistles on that one and the Rangers caught a break. Ranger fans can argue that one all they want, but if the skate were on the other foot we would all be up in arms.

The Devils didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t see to mind the Goalie Interference call on Sean Avery late in the second period. It was even more borderline that the call on Langenbrunner and the only reason it was called because it was Avery. Sutter and Lamoriello didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have too much to say about the fact that Madden was sitting on Henrik LundqvistÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s head during the scramble late in the third period.

You can bet that Sutter and the Devils will use the officiating as a rallying cry for Game 3. They may even hope to take advantage of what they will perceive as Ã¢â‚¬Å“makeup callsÃ¢â‚¬Â. Will that be the case on Sunday night? Who knows. The NHL will say that is not the case ever, but stranger things have happened. I am sure the devils think the officiating is one conspiracy that dates back to the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs when Jim Schoenfeld told Don Koharski “to have another donut, you fat pig.”

What is telling is that the Devils seem more concerned about the officiating than they are the Rangers. It does not matter if the officials and the NHL are against the Devils. What does matter is that New JerseyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s attention is being focused away from the matter at hand – trying to find a way to generate some offense and defeat the New York Rangers. .

The Blueshirts need to keep doing what they have been doing for the past 10 games against the Devils. However, it wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t hurt if they played smart hockey and didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t put themselves in a position where they could be whistled for stupid – or even borderline – penalties.

The Rangers will look to put a stranglehold on the series on Sunday night as the Devils visit the Garden on Sunday. To paraphrase Chico Escuela, April 13 has been very, very good to the Rangers during their history.

In the current edition of Blueshirt Bulletin, 2007 Lester Patrick Trophy winner John Halligan wrote that the Rangers won their second Stanley Cup on April 13, 1933 and their third Stanley Cup on April 14, 1940. While the Rangers wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be winning the Stanley Cup this April 13, they very well may be one step closer to making sure the New Jersey Devils get an early start to their summer vacation.

However, Game 3 is still over 30 hours away as I sit typing so let us focus on what transpired in Game 2. Once again, we watched as the Rangers out-deviled the New Jersey Devils. The Blueshirts managed to block shots, kill penalties and generally frustrate the Devils for over 58 minutes.

Once again the Devils had the better of the play for the first two periods. And once again the Rangers controlled the final 20 minutes of play – a fact that is not lost on both teams.

“What they’re doing to us now is similar to what our organization did to them a couple of years back, ” Jamie Langenbrunner told Larry Brooks of the New York Post following the Game 2 loss. “No matter what, they’ve been able to find the way to win these games in the third period.

Henrik Lundqvist expressed a similar sentiment to Brooks prior to the Rangers taking the second game.

“When the game is close going into the third period, we know we can win, Ã¢â‚¬Å“ The King stated. “We have so much confidence against them in those situations.”

The third period numbers are starling when you look at them. The Rangers have outscored the Devils 12-2 through the regular season and playoffs. Even more startling is the breakdown in the first two games of the series. The Rangers lead that important battle 5-1.

So what can we expect in Game 3?

The Devils desperation meter has to be at an 11 on a scale of 1-10. They have not scored more than two goals against the Rangers in any of the 10 games this season. Their power play continues to cough and wheeze. It is one thing not to score on the power play, but it is another thing to not generate much offense on the man advantage. The one saving grace for the Devils is the same can be said of the Rangers power play.

If you thought the devils were trying to get under LundqvistÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s skin in Game 2, wait until you see Game 3. If you thought it was bad when john Madden sat on HenrikÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s head as if he was trying to hatch an egg, Game 3 is going to be worse. Expect the Devils to pull a page out of the Sean Avery handbook. If the Minnesota announcers thought Colorado was trying to take liberties with Niklas Backstrom, wait until you see what New Jersey does on Sunday night.

As for the Rangers, Tom Renney is in a good position. The Rangers are playing good enough to win, but Ã¢â‚¬Å“bad enoughÃ¢â‚¬Â for the coach to keep harping on his team to stay focused and to keep doing the little things they need to do to win.

The Blueshirts need to keep on with the idea of working the puck down low along the goal line and behind the net on Martin Brodeur. The more pressure they put on Marty, the greater the chance there will be another lucky break/bounce or another misplay by the Jersey net minder.

With the game at the Garden, Renney will be able to dictate the tempo of the game because he will have the last change. It will be easier for Renney to keep Jaromir Jagr away from the likes of Dainius Zubrus, Michael Rupp and Colin White. With an extra day of rest between Games 3 and 4, Renney might consider double shifting Jagr in an attempt to spark the offense and take advantage of favorable matchups.

One part of the game the Rangers must improve is face-offs. John Madden was dominating Ranger centers all night long, as he won 65% of his draws. Conversely, Chris Drury had a miserable night winning only 27%. I can understand Renney wanting the right-handed shooting Drury on the ice with the face-offs to the right of Lundqvist, but he needs to go with the hot hand. Last night that was Brandon Dubinsky who won 12 of 20 draws.

In 1994 it was Stephane Matteau. In 1997 it was Adam Graves. Ryan CallahanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s game winning goal wasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t as dramatic as those series-winning overtime goals, but Ranger fans will take it just the same. The Rangers have now won all five games against the Devils that have ended in regulation time.

The Rangers 4-1 victory helped erase a couple of bad memories. First off, the Rangers ended their four game playoff losing streak to the Devils and ensured that 2005 will not happen again. The Blueshirts, for the time being, rendered the Devils shootout win in the regular season finale moot because home ice advantage has swung to the Rangers.

While they did allow a power play goal, the Rangers won the special teams battle with CallahanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s gamer being a shorthanded goal. The Devils power play goal was inevitable once Martin Straka lost his stick and effectively turned New JerseyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s power play into a five-on-three situation. While the Rangers first goal was not Ã¢â‚¬Å“officiallyÃ¢â‚¬Â a power play goal, for all intents and purposes Brendan ShanahanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s tally was a power play goal.

There is not much you can say about the way Scott Gomez stepped up in his first playoff game against his former Devil teammates. After a slow start, Gomez proved his worth with three assists on the first three goals and logging the most ice time among the Ranger forwards (20:03). Gomez was solid on face-offs, winning nine of his 15 draws.

The Rangers other playoff Ã¢â‚¬Å“specialistÃ¢â‚¬Â, Chris Drury, did not register a point, but he was effective centering the Rangers most consistent line with Callahan and Nigel Dawes. Drury was even better on face-offs as he won 14 of 18 draws.

Make no mistake about it; this series is far from over. The Devils probably played their best game of the nine matchups against the Rangers. New JerseyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s forecheck managed to pin the Rangers in their own end and forced the Blueshirts into too many turnovers. On the positive side, the Rangers defenders did a strong job of keeping their bodies between the puck and the net Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a must for effective defensive zone play. To counter the Devils forecheck, the Rangers must pick up their own forecheck. They gave the Jersey defensemen too much room and respect.

In addition to the countering the forecheck, the Blueshirts must be careful when they dump the puck into the Devils zone. The Rangers must keep the puck away from Martin Brodeur. One thing the Rangers were effective in doing was keeping Brodeur busy when there were loose pucks around the net. They managed to keep pucks alive and away from Brodeur. In fact, that part of their game probably caused BrodeurÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s mistake on the Callahan goal because it was one of the few times that Brodeur was able to handle the puck in the crease without a Ranger stick poking at a loose puck.

It will be interesting to see if the Rangers try to run some set plays from behind the net. While they might not be effective, they might just cause enough head games to keep Brodeur off his game. Given how close each game of this series should be, the Rangers (and the Devils too for that matter) should be looking for any edge they can get.

Despite the pre-game talk of inserting Jason Strudwick into the lineup, Tom Renney went with his six best defensemen by dressing Paul Mara. Considering how important the power play is in this series, Mara needs to be in the lineup Ã¢â‚¬â€œ even though there is some concern as to how physical he can play after discarding the cage protecting his facial injury.

RenneyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s decision as to the final forward is a more difficult choice. While the Rangers could use Petr PruchaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s offense, a case can be made for having Ryan HollwegÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s physical play in the lineup. Interestingly enough, the Rangers fourth line did not get as much ice time as they usually do. Depending on the how the series progresses, Renney might want to consider using Prucha for his offense. For the time being, there should not be a problem with Hollweg dressing as the 12th forward.

Someone has to explain to me how John Madden was voted the Third Star last night. While I am not a big Plus-Minus guy, Madden was a Minus-3 with only two shots on goal and no points. If the media really needed to throw the Devils a bone, they could have found someone a little more deserving.

With apologies to Sam Rosen and Bret Ã¢â‚¬Å“The HitmanÃ¢â‚¬Â Hart, the fifth installment of hockeyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Hudson River playoff battle will come down to the three Ã¢â‚¬Å“EÃ¢â‚¬â„¢sÃ¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Excellence of Execution and Effort.

The New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils present mirror images of each other. Both teams rely on big-time goaltending with doses of checking and offensive ineptitude thrown in for good measure. As a result, the Rangers-Devils series goes against the conventional wisdom of playoff hockey. Heck, it goes against the conventional wisdom of all sports when it comes to the playoffs.

The old adage is that defense wins championships. For the vast majority of cases that is the truth. However, the Rangers-Devils series is going to be decided by offense Ã¢â‚¬â€œ as in which team will be able to generate some. In eight regular season games, the two teams combined for a total of 26 goals (one which was an empty net goal).

Since both teams are so evenly matched, the Rangers must find a way to limit their mistakes and find a way to play hard for 60 minutes Ã¢â‚¬â€œ something that sometimes eludes the Blueshirts grasp. The best way for the Rangers to limit their mistakes is to get the Devils back on their heels, and the best way to do that would be for the Rangers to ramp up their forechecking and put extra pressure on the Devils defensemen.

Each shift will resemble something out of an American Revolution battle that was decided on hand-to-hand combat. Both teams will have to grind out each shift and hope for their opponent to make the first mistake. This idea is not lost on Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s not going to be easy for anybody, Ã¢â‚¬Â Jagr said in an NHL.com article. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Not only today, but every game we played, it was pretty tight. Most of the games were decided by one goal or went to overtime. …Ã¢â‚¬Â

The key to finding scoring will center on each teamÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s power play unit. As one might expect, both teams spent the regular season struggling to find any consistency with the man advantage. The Devils finished the season with the 25th best power play (15.6%) while the Rangers finished as 22nd (16.5%).

There was not much difference when it came to penalty killing. The Devils were the 13th best penalty killers (82.8%) and the Rangers finished as the sixth best penalty killers (84.6%). However, there was one big distinction when it came to special teams between the two teams.

The Rangers were the better team during the season series with the Devils. The Blueshirts held the Devils to just one power play goal in 27 attempts (3.7%) while the Rangers scored six times on 30 chances (20%). The Rangers finished the season as strong as a team could by killing off 32 of their last 33 penalties Ã¢â‚¬â€œ with the lone goal coming on a five-on-three power play. Offensively, the Rangers scored 7 power play goals in their last 29 chances Ã¢â‚¬â€œ although they did allow a shorthanded goal against the Islanders during a two-man advantage.

There is some sentiment that the Devils head into the series with some momentum after finally beating the Rangers in the last game of the season Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a win that meant more than just home ice advantage to the Devils.

“It was important to get home ice, but it was just as important to get the win, if not just for our own psyche, Ã¢â‚¬Â Jay Pandolfo said in an NHL.com article. Ã¢â‚¬Å“They beat us seven times, and to find a way to get a win against them is huge. …”

The only problem with that line of thinking is that the Devils win came in a shootout, as opposed to a regulation win. While going 1-4-3 was more important to the Devils than going 8-0-0 was to the Rangers, the simple fact is that the Rangers won all four games that were decided in a sixty minutes Ã¢â‚¬â€œ a more telling fact that the Devils avoiding an eighth loss to the Rangers.

A more telling sign in that season finale might be the Rangers ability to rally from a two-goal deficit. There was a time when Martin Brodeur with a two-goal lead was just as automatic as a Mariano Rivera save. Unfortunately for the Devils, times have changed.

While Brodeur still stands as one of the best clutch goaltenders come playoff time, the aura of his invincibility is not as great as it used to be. While some will criticize Henrik Lundqvist because he has only won one of his three playoff series matchups, The King did outplay his rival from New Jersey during the regular season. Brodeur posted a .922 save percentage while Lundqvist posted a .956 save percentage.

Even with Henrik out dueling Marty and with Brodeur not as invincible as he has been in the past, this series is the one matchup where the Rangers do not hold a strong edge in goal. That is just one of the tradeoffs the Rangers get for not facing a team with more speed (such as Montreal) or offensive fire power (such as Pittsburgh).

You can expect both teams to look to increase their number of shots on goal and you can bet both teams will try and get the opposing netminder off his game. It is a given that Sean Avery and Martin Brodeur will renew the outgoing battle they have had since Avery became a Ranger last season.

Conversely, look for the Devils to try and create more traffic in front of Lundqvist and look for some of the Devils more physical forwards to try a create an Avery-like disturbance in front of Lundqvist.

It is no coincidence that the Rangers two leading scorers against the Devils are Chris Drury and Scott Gomez. Rangers President/GM Glen Sather signed both players with an eye towards their performances on the big stage. Drury led New York with four goals and four assists against the Devils while Gomez chipped in with one goal and five assists.

One surprise of the season series was Nigel Dawes who scored four goals and 1 assist against the Devils Ã¢â‚¬â€œ including the game winner in the final matchup at the Garden. You remember that one Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the one that banged in off a sliding Dawes as he followed the puck into the net.

The Devils leading scorers against the Rangers were Jamie Langenbrunner (2-1-3) and Dainius Zubrus (1-2-3).

One final thing to keep in mind is who will emerge as the big-time player when the games go to overtime. Given that half of the regular season games when beyond 60 minutes, it is a good bet that we will see a couple of chances for the next Stephane Matteau to step forward.

Keeping the potential for multiple overtime games in mind, Joe Sakic is first among active playoff participants with seven playoff overtime goals. There is a four way tie for second with four playoff game winners. Jeremy Roenick is one of those players and the other three are Chris Drury, Jaromir Jagr and Jamie Langenbrunner.